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An idiot’s guide to the Ministry of Health

Neville Chamberlain on an ill-judged charm offensive. Now I like to consider myself a well brought up sort of chap, and was always taught never to bring up religion, politics or (heaven forfend!) a lady’s name at the dinner table....

‘Bare below the elbows’

So it has finally happened. I have reached that stage of reactionary bewilderment known as middle age. As well having my finger nowhere near the pulse of contemporary culture, I am finding the siren charms of BBC Radio 2 and...

BACO 2015 – Liverpool

Team BACO 2015: Academic Secretary, Peter Andrews; Treasurer, Chris Potter; Master, Ian Mackay and Local Host and Programme Director, Andrew Swift. (Photo taken by Academic Chairman, Shakeel Saeed.) In the height of a glorious English summer, over 1200 of the...

“Oh Manchester is Wonderful”...And other chants you might hear from the football stands or at BACO

Chris Potter is a lad of the North West, and we see him here letting his bleach blond hair grow out to show us his Northern roots. When I was a lad, Manchester was a troubled city in apparent terminal...

Human factors, theatre ethnographics and Girls Aloud

The issue of ambient music in the operating theatre is frequently controversial and has been known to cause ‘Bluetooth wars’, as different team members vie for control of the speakers. Our own Chris Potter gives his personal slant on this...

The curse of Sports Illustrated

“Not a supernatural curse, but a basic statistical concept of blinding simplicity.” What is ‘regression to the mean’? I am reliably informed that our former North American colonies publish a periodical known as Sports Illustrated (note, incidentally, the characteristically incorrect...

Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise

Our irrepressible Features Editor, Chris Potter, explores the limits of ignorance. I’m not sure about you, but I seem to exist in a sea of incompetence and ignorance, constantly surrounded by amateurish chumps and feckless underachievers. Now, a lesser man...

When dinosaurs ruled the earth

Optimism is abundant in medical research, but frequently ends up being tempered with reality. In his inimitable style, Chris Potter looks back over his career – starting with his medical school memories of Bentley-driving ENT consultants, and moving forward through...

Lies, damned lies and relative risk reduction

Chris Potter has a thing or two to say about the use of statistics and, in doing so, he takes us to a Friday night steak house that is prone to airway disasters and on a short tour of his...

A funny thing happened on the way to a conference – and other stories

This series of stories is dedicated to those of you with whom some of these moments were shared (or endured) and, above all, to my amazing and long-suffering husband, David Howard. Most of you know him as an exceptional head...

Hotels.com

This series of stories is dedicated to those of you with whom some of these moments were shared (or endured) and, above all, to my amazing and long-suffering husband, David Howard. Most of you know him as an exceptional head...